


Better Than Good

by insertfruitpun



Series: Valentine's Day fics [2]
Category: The Witchlands Series - Susan Dennard
Genre: F/M, The rook is a wing man, a wing bird perhaps, not that it makes any sense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:22:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29285970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/insertfruitpun/pseuds/insertfruitpun
Summary: My (very short) take on Ryber and Kullen meeting after Sightwitch.
Relationships: Ryber Fortiza/Kullen Ikray
Series: Valentine's Day fics [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2149077
Comments: 7
Kudos: 6





	Better Than Good

Ryber was not overly affectionate.

At least she didn't believe she was. Growing up in the Convent had her blurring the lines between authority and friendship and friendship and family. But she liked to think that their casual affection wasn't unusual. 

Sure, once she got used to Tanzi (which was pretty quick), one of them would usually end up laying on the other. At the very least they would lean on each other while doing their own things. 

Ryber had absolutely no experience when it came to how families usually worked. She liked to imagine that everyone got their share of hugs and kisses, though. It was only fair.

Ryber wasn't stupid. She knew life was hard over the world, and that Nubrevna wasn't generally a happy, loving environment. Seeing it for herself was different than reading it in books, though. 

There were far too many hungry people who had nowhere to go, and those who did rarely had anyone waiting for them.

A few weeks ago, Ryber wouldn't be able to imagine such a life.

But now, the only constant in her life was the Rook. And even he disappeared on the regular. She could only imagine what the bird was doing.

He had yet to come back to her in the city, and Ryber thought it was for the best. That would certainly raise a lot of questions.

When the bird did show up in her travels, Ryber had to admit she showed it more affection than ever. He didn't seem to like her as much as he did Tanzi, but Ryber could live with that. The Rook himself was nothing in comparison to Tanzi.

But Tanzi wasn't there. She wouldn't be for a while. It hurt Ryber to even think about it, but that was her new reality. No Convent, no threadsister, and no rules. 

No guidelines at all, in fact. From now on, Ryber was on her own. Everyone she ever knew was as good as gone. Well...almost everyone.

Ryber told herself that she was going to Lovats because that's the closest place she could get supplies. It was definitely not to find Kullen Ikray. 

Besides, unlike her, he had friends and family and a job and things to do. He had a life that Ryber couldn't ask him to leave for her. Not that he would even consider it.

And all she had going on for her was an unofficial obligation to feed a bird when it came to her. Though her not having enough even to feed herself was probably why The Rook was only there at times. 

Despite Ryber's hopes, he returned to her while she was still in the city. And then he flew in one direction before immediately returning to her to make sure she followed. Ryber sighed. This was the best she was going to get to a guide.

So she followed, and the place The Rook led her to was... Less than impressive. The Cleaved Man was its name, apparently. 

If Tanzi was there, she'd call it a lovely establishment and then they'd both laugh. But Tanzi wasn't there, and Ryber was, so she walked in, The Rook already gone.

Even before she set foot inside, Ryber knew what to expect. And, sure enough, at one of the tables sat Kullen Ikray with friends. 

Ryber knew he didn't remember her. He had no way to. And yet he did look over for a moment longer than anyone else did. She was probably not the typical clientele for such a place.

But there was a hope that she seemed familiar, and Ryber couldn't let go of that. Against her better judgement, she sat down at a table, alone. Laughter and voices filled the void that Ryber hadn't even noticed was forming in her ears.

Days of traveling alone brought her through many villages and towns, but not once did she stay for longer than she had to. Well, not until now. And she finally had time to let in all the sounds.

It was strangely comforting to be surrounded by strangers. Or, rather, strangers and Kullen.

Ryber took her diary out. She wrote something on the first page, a few lines, and hoped it would be enough.

She didn't really know Kullen from their time together. He could be a totally different person now that all his memories were back. And Ryber didn't take the matter of giving away her diary easily.

She used to lend it to Tanzi when her threadsister had troubles understanding something. A few other sisters got to see the drawings she made, too. But Ryber never actually gave it away to someone for a long time.

If she wanted at least a chance at not being alone, that would have to change. 

Ryber didn't take anything to drink. She didn't have any money, and she could tell the server was displeased when she waved them off. 

But she was done quickly, and Kullen's party was getting up. It was now or never.

Ryber walked right next to him. He and his friends made quite a crowd, so she could blend in easily. And slipping the diary into the bag he carried was very easy when he was distracted. Plus, it was far from his sight already. Kullen was even taller than she remembered.

The Rook did not return after that. Ryber was left to tour the city on her own, with only vague knowledge of it from the books they had in the Convent.

She walked around all day, unsure where she could stay for the night. In reality, she could probably go outside of the city to find somewhere to sleep. That's what she had been doing the past few days.

It was tiresome. And the worst part was, that if Tanzi was there with her, it wouldn't have been. If anyone else was there with her, it would be an adventure. But Ryber was alone now. 

The Rook didn't count. He came and went, never sticking too long. Hopefully he'd follow Kullen and stay with him. Ryber never liked the damn bird, but he didn't seem too independent. And killing the centuries old Convent pet... Well, at least no one was there to care about that anymore. 

But they were going to be. Hopefully. Maybe.

Ryber couldn't walk forever, though, and she stopped at a small spring of sorts. She'd seen some people take water from it before her, and once she got closer, she noticed an aged sign saying that it was indeed drinking water.

So luck was still a thing in this world. Good to know.

Ryber probably had something that held water, if she looked in her bag. But she had been thirsty for quite a while, and all logic had gone out of the window. Ryber couldn't possible waste time looking for some kind of container or bottle when her hands did the trick too.

She spent quite some time drinking out of her hands before some reasonable part of her came back to life. Ryber sighed and put her bag on the floor. She'd wasted her last drop of water last night. It would do well to get more.

It must've taken another five minutes just to find the damn thing. And when she did, it was a matter of putting it as high as possible.

Ryber felt a tap on her shoulder than, and it took all her self control not to jump out of her skin. She hadn't been touched in quite a while. If she was lucky, The Rook would sometimes pass by her and brush his wings against her arm.

An apology already formed on Ryber's tongue. She shouldn't have been holding the line, she was _very sorry,_ and _just had another bottle to fill so if you'd be so kind as to wait._

But to her surprise, Ryber turned around to see a familiar face. "Let me help," Kullen said, "because I'm pretty sure you helped me, too."

Ryber didn't know what to say. She just wordlessly handed over the bottle. They waited in silence for it to be filled with water. 

"Thank you," she said quietly. It was so long since she used her words. 

Ryber took back her water and put it in her bag. She would need it later. And the moment she was done with it, there were arms around her.

It had been so long since she was last hugged. Ryber hoped it didn't show.

It was a short hug. Tanzi was able to hold one for ten minutes when she really didn't want to do something.

But it was still a hug, and Ryber had no idea why. Her question must have been obvious, because then Kullen looked at her. "Well, we're friends, aren't we? Please tell me I didn't hug a stranger. I only got through some of your book, but you seemed awfully familiar before."

Ryber let out a laugh. Maybe he wasn't a totally different person. "No, we... We're definitely friends."

**Author's Note:**

> The name doesn't have anything to do with the fic, it's just this song I've been obsessed with recently and I couldn't think of a title.


End file.
